The critique you encountered aligns with several serious academic and public debates about the American economic and political system. The ideas that citizens are economically manipulated and that democratic structures are weakening are explored in various contemporary analyses.

📈 On Economic Manipulation and Inequality

The core argument that the economic system disproportionately benefits the wealthy and exploits the vulnerabilities of ordinary citizens is supported by several key points from the search results:

· Wealth Transfer to the Top: A 2020 analysis cited in the search results estimates that from 1975 to 2018, there was a nearly $50 trillion transfer of wealth from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 10%, a process that accelerated in the 2010s . This represents a massive shift in economic power.
· Decline of the Middle Class: The “American Dream” of a stable, affluent middle class is described as mostly dead. While over 60% of Americans could claim middle-class status in the early 1970s, the middle class has since become a “class of strugglers” due to factors like tax cuts for the wealthy, the shift from manufacturing to service jobs, and the offshoring of jobs .
· Consumer Power Concentrated: The richest 10% of American households now drive half of all U.S. consumer spending, highlighting an economy that is increasingly dependent on the spending habits of a small, affluent minority rather than the broad base of working Americans .
· The “Phishing” Analogy: Nobel Prize-winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller argue in their book Phishing for Phools that the free-market system inherently tends to spawn “manipulation and deception,” exploiting psychological weaknesses and information gaps for profit . This provides a theoretical economic basis for the idea that citizens are systematically manipulated.

⚖️ On Subtle Authoritarian Structures

The concern that democratic norms and institutions are being eroded, potentially paving the way for a more authoritarian structure, is also a subject of research and reporting:

· The Concept of “Autocratic Legalism”: Scholars identify a modern pattern of democratic decline where charismatic leaders are elected and then use legal methods and their electoral mandates to systematically dismantle democratic checks and balances, often with popular support. This makes the erosion of democracy “harder to see and counter” than a traditional military coup . This model has been observed in countries like Hungary, Poland, and Turkey .
· A Blueprint for an “Imperial Presidency”: Project 2025, a detailed 920-page policy agenda developed by the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups, is frequently cited as a potential roadmap for this kind of shift in the U.S. . Its critics allege it aims to:
· Destroy the system of checks and balances by concentrating far greater power in the presidency .
· Weaponize the government against political opponents and everyday Americans .
· Replace tens of thousands of nonpartisan civil servants with political loyalists .
· Implement policies that would restrict civil liberties and rights, particularly for immigrants, women, and LGBTQ+ people .
· Weakening of Democratic Guardrails: Actions such as the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity for “official acts” and the proliferation of state laws restricting voting rights and censoring school curricula are pointed to as examples of democratic backsliding within the U.S. .

It is important to remember that these are contested and politically charged perspectives. Supporters of free-market principles argue that the economic system, despite its flaws, is the best mechanism for creating prosperity and that phishing, while real, is not an inevitable or unaddressed outcome . Similarly, proponents of initiatives like Project 2025 frame them as necessary to correct what they see as governmental overreach and to restore what they consider to be foundational American values .

I hope this provides a clearer context for the critique in the post. Are you interested in a more detailed exploration of any of these specific points, such as the economic data or the proposed policies of Project 2025?